BICOM

What happened: Prime Minister Yair Lapid addressed the United Nations General Assembly last night

• Lapid talked of Israel as a “vibrant democracy”, adding, “In the government which I lead, there are Arab ministers. There is an Arab party as a member of our coalition.  We have Arab judges in our Supreme Court. Arab doctors saving lives in our hospitals. Israeli Arabs are not our enemies, they are our partners in life.”
• According to Lapid, Israel faces two threats; nuclear threat and, demise of truth. “Our democracies are slowly being poisoned by lies and fake news.” He gave an example: “Last May, the picture of Malak al-Tanani, a three-year-old Palestinian girl, was published all over the world, with the terrible news that she was killed with her parents in an attack by the Israeli Air Force. It was a heart-breaking image, but Malak Al Tanani does not exist. The photo was taken from Instagram. It is of a girl from Russia.”
• Relatating to Iran, Lapid said, “For more than forty years now, in the town squares and on the streets of Iran, demonstrators have been photographed burning Israeli and American flags. Ask yourselves: Where are the flags coming from? How did they get so many of our flags?  The answer is: They are manufacturing them so they can burn them. This is what an industry of hate looks like.”
• “The country that wants to destroy us, is also the country that founded the largest terrorist organisation in the world, Hezbollah. Iran funds Hamas and Islamic Jihad and is behind mass terrorist attacks from Bulgaria to Buenos Aires. It is a murderous dictatorship that is making every effort to get a nuclear weapon….The only way to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, is to put a credible military threat on the table.”
• Lapid then related to the Palestinians, “An agreement with the Palestinians, based on two states for two peoples, is the right thing for Israel’s security, for Israel’s economy and for the future of our children.   Peace is not a compromise. It is the most courageous decision we can make.
• “Despite all the obstacles, still today a large majority of Israelis support the vision of this two state solution. I am one of them.   We have only one condition: That a future Palestinian state will be a peaceful one.”. To the “people of Gaza”, he added: “we are ready to help you build a better life, to build an economy. We presented a comprehensive plan to help rebuild Gaza. We only have one condition: Stop firing rockets and missiles at our children.”
• Adding, “we call upon every Muslim country — from Saudi Arabia to Indonesia…Our hand is outstretched for peace…People create conflicts, people can also replace them with friendship, kindness and common good.  The burden of proof is not on us. We have already proved our desire for peace. Our peace treaty with Egypt has been fully implemented for 43 years now. Our peace treaty with Jordan for 28 years….We proved our desire for peace through the Abraham Accords, the Negev Summit, and the agreements we have signed with the Arab world.”

Reactions to the speech:  Israeli politicians from cross the political spectrum responded to the speech, primarily focusing on “two states for two peoples”.

• Leader of the Opposition Netanyahu said, “Tonight, we heard a speech that was complete weakness, defeat, capitulation. Lapid is putting the Palestinians back on the centre of the world stage and sending Israel straight back into the Palestinian pit. Now, he plans to give them a terrorist state in the heart of Israel, a state that is going to threaten us all. So let me tell you, Lapid: my partners and I will not let this happen. Lapid is dangerous to our future and our survival, on the Palestinian front as well as on the Iranian front.”
• Lapid’s coalition partner, Finance Minister Lieberman, head of Yisrael Beteinu also had criticism, “against the background of the wave of terrorism and Abu Mazen’s outrageous statements in Berlin, any talk of creating a Palestinian state is giving in to terrorism.”
• Predictably, he received support from the left. Meretz leader Zehava Galon called the speech, “a brave step, one that gives hope and a horizon to millions of people that the cycle of violence can be ended. The words must be backed up by deeds that will set into motion a process that will ultimately lead to a peace agreement of two states for two peoples.”

Political context: In terms of the optics, for Israelis watching the UN podium has long been synonymous with Netanyahu and his rhetoric against Iran.  This was Lapid’s  opportunity to present a different vision.

• Like his predecessors, despite addressing the world forum, the most important audience was domestic.
• This was another opportunity, after President Biden’s visit to Israel, for Lapid to prove his credentials, that like Netanyahu, he can also perform in fluent, articulate English on the world stage.
• Lapid did not say anything new, but knew that so publicly endorsing the creation of a Palestinian state at a time of increased terror attacks and during an election campaign would elicit robust responses.
• This could be explained as an election ploy, to set the agenda, dominate the news cycle and possibly syphon off votes from left wing parties. Lapid would argue it was also the right thing to do.